Opposite Sides Of The Tracks
by SummerNightsxox
Summary: Charlie Buckton is a cop on the right side of the law, Darryl Braxton is a surfie gang member on the wrong side of the law. But these two are closer than anyone could ever imagine.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey lovely readers, this is something completely different. I had this idea yesterday and I wrote this, it's going to explore a completely different dynamic to Charlie and Brax and I hope you'll join me for the ride and find it as interesting as I do. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Home and Away.**

* * *

"She's beautiful," Ross Buckton said to his wife Elsie as she held baby Charlotte in her arms. "I can't believe we've finally got a baby girl."

Elsie sniffed. "She lost her real parents and now she's going to be separated from her twin brother. Are you sure we can't afford to take Darryl in too? Ross... we could, you know we could. If we just spent our money carefully…. Are you sure there's no way?"

"We can't afford two babies, you know that, Els. And we've always wanted a baby girl. Charlotte is our little blessing."

"I know. I just wish we could take little Darryl in too." Elsie sighed as she looked at the little bundle in her arms. Six month old Charlotte was sleeping soundly, one hand curled around the blanket and a thumb in her mouth, a peaceful expression on her face.

^..^

"Mummy! Daddy! Look at me!" Five year old Darryl Braxton shouted as he splashed in the water using his little boogie board. He couldn't remember a time when he wasn't in the water.

"I wanna play!" Heath, Darryl's three year old brother squealed as he raced down the beach into the water, joining his older brother.

"Okay, but not for long!" Danny Braxton shouted. He turned to see Cheryl smiling at him. He smiled back at her and took her hand. They had always had fertility problems, and IVF had never worked. After they adopted Darryl, they thought that their family was complete, until Cheryl became pregnant two years later. Darryl and Heath were their miracles, and Cheryl couldn't be any happier.

"I love you, you know that?" Cheryl grinned.

Danny entwined his fingers with hers. "I love you too."

^..^

Twelve-year-old Charlie Buckton sighed happily as she walked home from school with her friend Bianca Scott.

"I think he likes you." Charlie said to Bianca as she took a sip from her water bottle. It was a hot day and her parents always encouraged her to stay hydrated, especially in the hot climate that was Summer Bay.

"Who?" Bianca asked, feigning ignorance as they rounded a corner into Charlie's street.

Charlie giggled as she whacked her friend's arm playfully. "You know who I'm talking about, silly."

"Liam?" Bianca asked confused. "No way."

"Come on Bi," Charlie said as she stopped walking. "He likes you, it's so obvious. And I saw your face this afternoon at lunch. You were totally staring at him the entire time. You nearly put tomato sauce in your yoghurt."

Bianca blushed. "I did not."

Charlie grinned as she resumed walking. "You did too. You've got 'the hots' for him."

"I'm twelve. We're not supposed to get 'the hots' for anyone."

Charlie scoffed as she stopped walking again, causing Bianca to nearly bump into her. "Oh come off it, Bi. I can't believe you're saying that. It's usually me telling you that we're not supposed to be dating until we're at least sixteen."

"That's because your dad is a cop." Bianca said, rolling her eyes.

Charlie sighed. "And he doesn't let me forget it."

^..^

"Bwax, I'm scared."

Fourteen year old Brax looked down to see his little brother staring up at him. Casey Braxton was three years old, eleven years younger than Brax. Brax was the nickname that he was given ever since he could remember, ever since he was friends with Sam and Brodie and the rest of the boys.

Brax leant down to Casey's height. "What's going on buddy?" He asked calmly, even though he knew what the answer would be. Their parents fighting again. It had been happening since Brax was ten. Danny would come home drunk, Cheryl would yell at him until it was a full on shouting match. Brax hated how Heath and Casey were exposed to that. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cheryl had turned to the bottle and Danny was barely home, leaving Brax to look after Casey and twelve year old Heath. It was a lot for a fourteen year old boy to handle, but Brax was used to it.

"Mummy and daddy are fighting again. I'm scared. Bwax, make it stop."

Brax sighed as he picked Casey up. "I'll try, buddy. Where's Heath?"

"He's in his room."

"Okay, how about we go see Heath?" Brax asked. "You can play with him."

"Will you make the loud noise stop?" Casey asked.

Brax sighed again. "I'll try, Case."

^..^

Fourteen year old Charlie struggled under the heavy figure that held her pinned to the bed.

"No, please." She begged of her captor, who didn't budge.

"Shut up Charlie, do you want me to gag you?" Grant Bledcoe smirked as he unbuttoned his pants and tossed them aside. Charlie felt the tears flow freely down her face.

"Grant, please." She breathed out.

"Shut up!" He snarled at her as he roughly pulled her pants down and positioned himself, giving her a sick grin. Charlie wanted to throw up.

"I trusted you." She cried as he clamped a hand over her mouth and pushed himself in side of her. Charlie cried as the pain exploded in her. She turned her face to the side, praying for the pain to stop. It felt like an eternity before he finally got off her and threw her clothes at her before exiting the room, leaving a crying and broken Charlie behind.

^..^

Fifteen year old Charlie moaned as another contraction wracked her body with pain.

"Make it stop." She cried to her mother, who comfortingly squeezed her hand and brushed her matted hair away from her face.

"ARGHHHHHH!" Charlie wailed as contraction after contraction hit.

"Okay Charlie, it's time for you to push now."

"I can't." Charlie tried to breathe through the pain. She felt her eyes closing and she struggled to keep them open.

"No, no, Charlie stay with us!" The doctor told Charlie. "We're going to have to operate."

"A c-section?" Elsie asked.

"Yes." The doctor said, just as the machines began beeping frantically. "Charlie will be fine, and so will the baby." Those were the last words Elsie heard before Charlie was wheeled off to theatre. She put her head in her hands, praying to God that Charlie and the baby would be okay.

^..^

"She looks too much like him!" Charlie sobbed as she looked down at the bundle in her arms. "She's half his, I can't do this! I can't!" Elsie pulled her daughter into her arms as she sobbed.

"Everything will be okay, Charlie."

"No it won't!" Charlie cried, pulling away from Elsie. "He got me pregnant. Ruby is going to remind me of that every time I look at her. Mum, I can't. I can't face her without feeling sick. I can't face her without seeing _him_. What is wrong with me?"

"You went through a trauma, baby," Elsie said as she brushed a lock of hair behind Charlie's ear. "But you can't punish Ruby for this. She's a part of you too, and she needs you."

"I don't know if I can love her." Charlie cried. Elsie just stayed quiet, holding her daughter as she tried to cry the pain away.

^..^

"How is she?"

Elsie jumped and turned around to see Ross, holding out a coffee in a takeaway cup.

"God Ross, you scared me. Don't do that," Elsie said as she gratefully took the coffee cup and took a few sips before turning back to Charlie, who had finally fallen asleep. "She finally got to sleep, she's exhausted."

"Our girl has been through a lot," Ross said as he sat down in the chair next to Elsie. "She's a fighter."

"I wish there was more we could do to protect her," Elsie said. "She's fifteen and a mother, she didn't choose this. Hell Ross, she didn't deserve this. What that bastard did to her…"

"I know, baby," Ross said as he comfortingly rubbed small circles on Elsie's back. "All we can do now is move forward. Charlie needs that and so does Ruby."

"Ruby…" Elsie said softly. "Oh god."

"Hey, hey," Ross said. "We'll get Charlie through this, give her everything she needs to move forward, yeah?"

"But what if we can't help her this time?" Elsie asked worriedly. "Ross, this could be more than we can handle."

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please review! Virtual cookies will be coming your way :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey readers, thank you for all the reviews so far, I really appreciate it. Here is the next chapter :)**

* * *

Charlie lay in her bed, silent tears falling down her face as she looked at her daughter, who was sleeping peacefully in the bassinet next to Charlie's bed. Ruby was now two weeks old and Charlie could barely look after her. Most of the time when Ruby cried, Elsie looked after her, except when she needed feeding. Charlie would feed her, then go back to bed, where she would just lie there, staring up at the ceiling. For the most part, Charlie was not coping at all. She couldn't stand the fact that she was made a mother by the bastard that took her in the worst way possible and Ruby was the one constant reminder. Charlie's tears fell faster as she thought about that night, the night that her entire life changed. The indescribable pain she felt.

"Go away!" Charlie sobbed as there was a knock on her door.

"Charlie, it's just me," Elsie said softly as she opened the door to her daughter's room, carrying a tray of food. "You gotta eat sweetie."

Charlie glanced at the tray, which had a glass of orange juice and a plate of macaroni and cheese. She shook her head as Elsie put the tray down on her bedside table and sat down on Charlie's bed.

"Honey, your Dad and I think it would be a good idea if you saw someone." Elsie said gently, reaching out a hand to stroke Charlie's hair.

Charlie shot up in bed, shaking her head rapidly. "No!"

"Baby, your dad and I think it will help."

"No!" Charlie exclaimed. "You think I'm crazy?"

"No, of course not. Ever since you were…" Elsie struggled for an appropriate word.

"Raped," Charlie said bluntly. When she saw the horrified look on her mother's face, Charlie sighed. "It's okay, you can say it."

"Honey, ever since you were raped and had Ruby, you have been so down," Elsie said. "You've had nightmares, you won't eat, and you've lost so much weight. You haven't even seen Bianca. She's worried about you too and she misses you Charlotte."

"So you think I'm depressed?" Charlie asked, her voice raising an octave. "Mum, I'm not."

Elsie brushed a lock of hair behind Charlie's ear and sighed heavily. "Will you at least consider it?"

"I don't know." Charlie replied quietly.

^..^

15-year-old Brax sighed as he opened the cupboards, revealing only a stale loaf of bread that Brax guessed had been there for a while and a tin of formula. The fridge wasn't much better, the only contents being a six pack of beer, a tiny stick of butter and a quarter of a block of cheese.

"Brax, I'm hungry," 13 year old Heath said sleepily as he walked out of the bedroom that he shared with Brax. "And Casey won't stop crying either." Casey was Brax and Heath's one month old brother.

Brax sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. "Where's Mum?"

"Out." Heath replied as he searched the cupboards. Brax sighed, that was not unusual of Cheryl to take off, especially since Danny had left the family while Cheryl was pregnant. Brax was relieved, because it meant that they no longer had to deal with the emotional and physical abuse and the fighting that would occur because of Danny and Cheryl's relationship, which was strained to say the least. However, Brax had to pick up the brunt of the family responsibility, especially when it came to money. Cheryl spent most of the money she got on booze and gambling. Brax was forced to work two jobs, one as a dishwasher, and the other as a labourer. He had to leave school to support the family.

"Can you make Casey's bottle mate?" Brax asked. "There's some clean ones in the cupboard."

"Okay," Heath grumbled. "When are we going to get some real food?"

"I don't know." Brax sighed as he started to make some sandwiches with the bread and the cheese. Heath handed Brax the bottle, and Brax tested it on the wrist to make sure that it was the right temperature, the last thing he needed was for his little brother to burn himself. He grabbed a plate, cut a sandwich in half and handed Heath the plate.

"Brax, the bread is stale." Heath complained.

"Yeah. Don't let Mum hear you complaining. I'll get some food after work, I promise." Brax promised as he scraped some mould of a piece of bread, grimacing as he did so. They definitely needed some more food.

"You promise?" Heath asked as he took a bite of his sandwich and shuddered. "This bread is pretty gross."

Brax took a bite of his own sandwich. Heath was right, it was pretty nasty. "I promise."

^..^

"Where are you going?" Ross asked as Charlie walked out of her room, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder and a suitcase in her hand.

"I thought that I would go stay with Aunty Michelle for a while." Charlie answered.

"Is this because of what I said?" Elsie asked. "About you seeing a psychologist?"

"I don't think it will help," Charlie replied honestly as she sat down on the couch next to her father. "I just need to get away for a while, and Aunt Michelle offered me a place to stay."

"How long?" Elsie asked.

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know."

"And what about your daughter?" Ross asked.

"We could look after her." Elsie said.

Charlie smiled sadly. "Thanks."

"When do you leave?" Ross asked.

"Tonight." Charlie answered.

"And how are you getting there?" Ross questioned.

"I bought a bus ticket yesterday," Charlie answered. "Am I in an interrogation? Dad, don't go all cop mode on me."

"We're just concerned about you honey." Elsie said.

Charlie sighed, running the hand that wasn't holding the suitcase through her hair. "I know."

"Promise you'll call us?" Elsie asked, her eyes filling up with tears.

"Mum, don't cry." Charlie said, putting down her bags and reaching out to hug her mum.

"I'll miss you." Elsie sobbed.

"I know," Charlie murmured. "I'll miss you too."

* * *

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey readers! Sorry for the long wait, I had major writers block. I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review :)**

* * *

Seventeen year old Charlie walked into the house, dumping her bag down before the door she heard the running of footsteps. For once Charlie could actually feel herself wanting to smile at the chance of seeing her daughter.

"Char Char!" The toddler exclaimed, flinging herself into Charlie's arms. Charlie could feel herself stiffen up, did her daughter just call her Char Char? Not mummy?

"Charlie, you're home." Elsie said warmly before she saw Charlie's look of shock.

"Why did she just call me Char Char?" Charlie questioned.

Elsie sighed. "Come into the kitchen, your dad and I wanted to talk to you about it. Ruby, do you wanna watch Spongebob?"

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed, squirming out of Charlie's grip. She ran into the lounge, leaving Charlie to follow Elsie into the kitchen, where Ross was stirring a pot on the stove.

"Charlotte." Ross greeted, walking over and hugging Charlie.

"She wants to know why Ruby didn't call her mum." Elsie said as she grabbed a glass and filled it with orange juice, handing it to Charlie.

"It's been two years since you left, honey."

"She doesn't know who I am?" Charlie's voice cracked as she set the untouched glass of orange juice on the counter. "She doesn't know that I'm her mum?"

"She thinks you're her sister," Elsie said. "You were gone for so long, your father and I thought it would be best if we raised Ruby and told her that you were her older sister."

"And lie to her?" Charlie exclaimed.

"Charlie. She's two and a half." Ross said.

"It's still a lie!" Charlie yelled, slamming her fist down on the counter. "I can't lie to my daughter like that. How long do you expect me to keep this up?"

"Charlotte, we're doing this so you can have a life," Elsie said. "Be a normal teenager."

Charlie shook her head. "This is not normal."

"Charlotte, what your mother means is that we want you to be able to do everything you want to do. We're quite happy to raise Ruby."

"But what if I wanted to raise Ruby?" Charlie asked in a soft voice.

"You left for two years, what were we supposed to do Char?" Elsie asked. "Ruby started calling us mum and dad and we didn't know what to do. You were gone for a long time."

"You should have had faith in me that I would come back! That I would come back for my daughter!" Charlie exclaimed hysterically. "Now I won't even be able to raise my daughter as my own? What if she hates me when she's older and finds out about this? That we lied to her!"

"She won't."

"You don't know that! I'm not okay with this. I hate this. How could you do this to me? I'm your daughter!"

Ross sighed. "We just want you to have a future."

Charlie shook her head. "No dad, you were selfish."

^..^

Seventeen year old Brax was lying on his bed trying to conserve some energy before cooking dinner. He had just arrived home from his labouring job, and he would have time to chill for a little bit and cook dinner for the family before he had to head off to his dishwashing job.

"Hey Brax."

Brax sat up to see his girlfriend of three months, Erica Sharpe, standing in the doorway of his room. "Hey Rick. I wasn't expecting ya."

"Heath let me in," Ricky said of the 15 year old as she sat down next to him on the bed and brushed some hair out of his face. "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad, how about yourself?" Brax asked as he lay down again. He pulled Ricky into his arms, holding her close.

"I'm not too bad." Ricky breathed out as she snuggled in closer to Brax.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Brax asked.

Ricky bit her lip as she looked up at Brax. "I don't know, I'm not too sure that your mum likes me."

"Rick, you'll be fine." Brax tried to reassure his girlfriend. "And anyway, I was planning on feeding the grommets sausage rolls, I promised Case because he kept asking."

"And of course you caved in." Ricky smiled as she traced a line up his chest with a finger. Brax loved his little brothers, and he would give them everything if he could. He was more like a parent to the two boys ever since Danny had left and Cheryl had started gambling and drinking more and more.

Brax grinned as he kissed the top of Ricky's forehead. "Can't say no to them aye."

^..^

Brax groaned as he looked at Heath, who was sitting on the couch across from him, a sullen look on his face. He had a cut lip and there was bruising around his eye.

"Heath, what have I told you about fighting?" Brax sighed. It wasn't the first time he had to talk to his brother about fighting, he always seemed to be in a scrap and Brax was left to plead to the principal not to expel Heath. He wanted his brothers to have an education and not have to leave school like he did.

"He started it!" Heath exclaimed.

Brax rubbed his forehead. "So? Heath, I've told you that you can't get involved in this sort of stuff. You have to stop fighting with this Nick kid."

"He said horrible things about us!" Heath protested.

Brax raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"That mum would rather gamble and drink than look after us and that Dad didn't want us and that's why he left." Heath answered as he looked down.

Brax sighed, he hated seeing his brother like this. "You know that's not true."

"Yeah?" Heath asked angrily. "Then why did dad leave? Why is Mum never home for us any more?"

Brax rubbed his hand over his forehead, he never knew how to answer this question because he didn't know himself. He didn't know what caused his mum to go off the rails like she had. "I don't know, Heath."

* * *

**Please review! Next chapter we'll fast-forward to Brax and Charlie being adults :)**


End file.
